January 2012
What You Need to know
to vote in Wisconsin
 You
can register at the City Clerk’s office. If it’s between 20 days
before an election and the Friday before the election, that’s the only
place you can register, and during that period you must have proof of
your address.
The Madison City Clerk’s office is in the City– County
Building, 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Room 103.
They’re open from 8am to 4:30pm Monday through Friday.
Various documents will prove your address; call the
municipal clerk’s office (in Madison (608) 266-4601) to be sure you
have them.
Madison residents can register at any Madison Public
Library, until 20 days before an election. Call (608) 266-4811 for
hours at any branch. If it’s more than 20 days before an election, you
don’t have to have ID or prove where you live.
If you’ve moved since you last voted, you need to
re-register at your new address.
On
Election Day
You can still register at your polling place on election day, but you
must prove your address. It used to be that someone could vouch for
your address, but now you have to have proof of where you live.
You must have photo ID to vote, and you must sign or
mark the poll book. Your ID does not have to show your current
address.
You can vote at the City Clerk’s office from the
Monday two weeks before the election through the Friday before the
election.
You’ll need ID to vote, plus proof of your address if
you also need to register.
There’s an exception to the photo ID requirement for
elderly or disabled voters who are “indefinitely confined.”
These voters can apply for a permanent absentee
ballot; contact the Clerk’s office (in Madison (608) 266-4601).
Monday through Friday 8 - 4:30 pm
www.lvwdanecounty.org
 The Voting
Rights Act was signed two years to the month after the March on
Washington for Jobs and Freedom. (August 28, 1963) by Pres. Lyndon B.
Johnson.
LBJ described the right to vote as “the
most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down
injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because
they are different from other men.”
The resolution empowered the federal
government to oversee voter registration and elections in counties
that had used tests to determine voter eligibility or where
registration or turnout had been less than 50 percent in the 1964
presidential election.
It also banned discriminatory literacy
tests and expanded voting rights for non-English speaking Americans.
Was a
Criminal Enterprise Under the
2011 Capitol Rotunda Christmas Tree?
Part 1 in a multi-part series,
by Bill Breitsprecher
 The
FBI defines a criminal enterprise as a group of individuals with an
identified hierarchy, or comparable structure, engaged in significant
criminal activity.
Sadly, in 2010 Madison's own "hometown"
shortline railroad fully met this definition. The May 5, 2011 edition
of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported:
Madison - A Wisconsin railroad magnate
pleaded guilty Thursday to making illegal political contributions.
Prosecutors charged Wisconsin & Southern
Railroad Company chief executive William Gardner last month with one
count of excessive political contributions and one count of unlawful
political contribution, both felonies.
They accused him of asking his employees
to make tens of thousands of dollars in political contributions,
including donations to Gov. Scott Walker, and then reimbursing his
workers.
Gardner struck a plea deal calling for him to plead guilty to both
counts in exchange for prosecutors' recommendation that he serve two
years on probation. His sentencing has been set for July 7 in
Washington County.
On July 7, 2012, the Journal Sentinel
followed up with the following information:
William Gardner, president and chief
executive officer of Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co. and a major
donor to Gov. Scott Walker, was sentenced Thursday to two years of
probation for violating state campaign finance laws.
One could reasonably apply the FBI
definition of a criminal enterprise to the situation at Wisconsin &
Southern. Because Scott Walker specifically ran on the issue of
"killing" high speed rail, it is not unreasonable to assume that the
intentions of the railroad were to help eliminate this federal
investment in rail infrastructure that would have largely gone to a
competing railroad.
One might also reasonably assume that the
assumption was that if high-speed rail was "killed", leftover federal
monies for that project would be invested in the state-owned tracks
that Wisconsin & Southern leases. Wisely, the feds pulled that money
because the state backed out of the purpose for these grants.
Wisconsin & Southern did not reap a "windfall" from killing high-speed
rail.
Unknown to most citizens, the railroad is
largely just a tenant that "rents" tracks that the state payed for and
owns. The operations and profits of this railroad are only possible
because the state has largely subsidized its existence.
For the previous 5 holiday seasons
(including 2011), a G-scale (large) train has circled the rotunda
tree. This year, Governor Walker proclaimed the tree to be a
"Christmas Tree" and not a "Holiday Tree" - evidently a direct
reference to a Fox-News host's wholly manufactured "War on Christmas".
Reasonable people can wonder why it is considered improper to respect
the diverse views of American citizens during the holidays, especially
when the roots of what many now call a "Christmas Tree" actually
demonstratively has its roots in pagan traditions.
Reasonable people may also conclude that
the real "War on Christmas" is the commercialization of a holiday
honoring Jesus Christ by shopping in "big box" retailers like Best Buy
and Walmart.
To many, it was wholly inappropriate to feature a state-subsidized
railroad that admitted to a serous crime against this nation (felony)
perhaps for the purpose of undermining an investment in other rail
lines. There is nothing here consistent with the life of Lord Jesus
Christ.
Featuring Wisconsin & Southern under the
State's "Christmas Tree" in a year when they literally admitted to
undermining the democratic process and will of the people with large
and wholly illegal campaign contributions is to some, highly offensive
- perhaps blasphemous. A criminal enterprise that is literally under a
Christmas tree!
But it gets worse - on November 30, 2012.
Railway Age magazine reported:
Pittsburgh, Kan.-based Watco
Transportation Services, LLC has announced it is acquiring what it
calls "controlling ownership" of Milwaukee-based Wisconsin & Southern
Railroad Co. (WSOR). Watco's acquisition adds Wisconsin's
second-largest railroad to its stable of short line and regional
properties.
Watco filed a change of control notice
with the Surface Transportation Board Tuesday, which is expected to
become effective by the year's end. The projected date of the
transaction is Jan. 1, 2012.
So who is WATCO? They're the largest
transportation holding company in the world. Watco Holdings, a Kansas
corporation, controls Watco Services. Watco Holdings indirectly
controls 23 Class III railroads operating in 18 states. But this
wholly understates the scope of WATCO's business.
They own industrial parks, comprehensive
transportation services, pipelines, shipping companies, mechanical
services, real estate & properties leases, transloading & intermodal
services, and comprehensive rail logistics services including train
planning and scheduling, tracing, maintenance and inventory control in
Australia. Watco Transportation is literally owned by "itself", WATCO
Companies. Determining who now has direct and indirect interests in
WATCO may be extremely difficult or impossible to determine.
Strangely or not-unexpectedly to those
that follow this news closely, the biggest customer of WATCO, per
this online publication from that organization itself are the Koch
Brothers.
If people are willing to keep an open mind and "connect the dots", it
can be demonstrated that much of Scott Walker's agenda comes directly
from the Koch brothers and the National Chamber of Commerce (via an
organization called ALEC). The situation with Wisconsin & Southern and
now WATCO should disturb taxpayers/citizens.
Is it in the state's best interest to have
rail lines the public owns "leased" to a multinational holding
company? How is this going to affect local businesses and shippers?
Remember, rail lines essentially grant a monopoly on rail services to
the organization that owns or controls the right-of-way.
VOICES newspaper will follow up on these
proceedings and report more as this story unfolds. Is the sale of
Wisconsin & Southern in the state's best interest? Was it appropriate
to "honor" Jesus Christ with a "Christmas Tree" that prominently
featured Wisconsin & Southern?
Please reflect on the facts about
Wisconsin & Southern and the words of Christ as directly stated in the
New Testament (whether you are a believer or not). It appears
wholly-inconsistent with the many parables and stories in the New
Testament to include a criminal enterprise under a Christmas tree.
Part 2: Dems asleep at the switch and
then stage dog-and-pony show
Who is ALEC? Why
Care?
by Rob Hecimovich
 The
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) drafts legislation for
corporate interests. These "bills" get passed along to legislators to
introduce and pass into laws.
Legislators and large corporations work
together to create and implement ALEC model bills at ALEC conventions
which are fully-paid junkets for legislators and their families, with
babysitters and extravagant entertainment, which can include strip
clubs. These trips cost little. There's only a $50/year membership.
Wisconsin is facing a massive dose of ALEC
written legislation, including Senate Bill 11: 16896 Sale or
contracted operation of state-owned heating, cooling and power plants.
(1) Notwithstanding ss.13.48(am)and 16.705(1), the department may sell
any state owned heating, cooling or power plant, with or without
solicitation of bids, for any amount that the department determines to
be in the best interest of the state. Notwithstanding ss.196.49 and
196.80, no approval or certification of the public service commission
is necessary for a public utility to purchase or contract for the
operation of, such a plant, and any such purchase is considered to be
in the public interest and to comply with the criteria for
certification of a project under s.196.49(3)b.
More than 98% of ALEC's revenues come from
corporate trade groups and corporate foundations. Because ALEC is not
defined as a lobbying activity, contributions are tax deductible.
State and federal governments do not gain tax revenues from this
activity.
Some ALEC funders include ExxonMobile, the
Charles G. Koch Foundation, Claude Lambe Foundation, the Scaife and
Coors Families, and Allegheny & Castle Rock Foundations.
ALEC alumni include: John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Dennis Hastert, Tom
Delay, Andrew Card, Donald Rumsfield, Gov. Scott Walker and Jan
Brewer, and Wisconsin's own Fitzgerald Brothers.
In the US, large corporations are only
expected to serve their own interests. There is a great temptation to
draft legislation that cheats the public out of tax revenue or write
legislation that eases environmental regulations that will be harmful
to citizens that ultimately get stuck with clean up bills. Phillip
Morris got bills introduced in multiple states giving them tax breaks
for moistened fruit flavored tobacco products making them cheaper and
easier to sell young folks.
Humana and United Healthcare will benefit
from the Health Savings Account Bill which recently passed in
Wisconsin. Generally, ALEC bills weaken worker rights and/or privatize
government services. They make food and water less safe, limit amounts
corporations can be sued for if their products make you sick or kill
someone in your family, and makes it easier to send drug and
nonviolent offenders to our private prison system. ALEC works to
remove limits on how much interest private lending institutions can
charge, fees banks can charge, and strives to remove people from
Medicare (Paul Ryan style). Private on-line schools and colleges
benefit from ALEC laws which make tuition paid by students ineligible
for bankruptcy protection.
In most states, public funds pay for
legislators to travel to and attend ALEC meetings. ALEC legislation
and legislators are supported with media campaigns paid for by the
same groups who fund ALEC. In Wisconsin, GOP senators who voted to end
collective bargaining rights were flown to DC to attend a lavish ALEC
celebration and fund raiser right after the vote was taken and with
thousands of protesters still present outside the capitol.
ALEC boasts to have over 1,000 bills
introduced by legislative members each year, with about 1 in 5
actually becoming law. The real issue to some is that WI GOP
legislators have not bothered to tell the public that bills introduced
in 2011 were largely written by wealthy corporate interests. The media
has not stated this fact either.
Regardless of which side of the aisle one
is on, most prefer government transparency instead of backroom deals
for corporations. Party rhetoric can divide us, probably by design. We
all share this state, nation and planet and have to consider what is
best for we the people, not necessarily the companies who employ us
and the legislators who represent them.
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Luther King]
SB 207: Remedy in
Search of a Problem
by Linda Ketcham
 On October
12, 2001, MUM staff and Board members attended the Assembly Committee
on Labor and Workforce Development's public hearing to testify against
Assembly Bill 286, a bill that would overturn a nearly 40 year old
standard of fair employment practice by allowing all employers to
refuse to hire or to terminate from employment any person with an
unpardoned felony conviction. It wouldn't matter how long ago the
person committed the crime or the nature of the crime. On October 24th
MUM staff and Board attended the Senate Committee on Labor, Public
Safety and Urban Affairs to testify against the Senate's version of AB
286, Senate Bill 207 (SB 207). Here is an
excerpt from MUM Executive Director Linda Ketcham's Senate testimony:
Madison-area Urban has been working with men and women returning to
the community from prison since 2002. Additionally we have been
working with children of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated
parents since 2000.
We stand opposed to Senate Bill 207
because it is bad corrections policy. It will not increase public
safety and indeed the bill contradicts the focus and goals of the WI
Department of Corrections' efforts to reduce recidivism in our state.
It seems to us that this bill is a remedy
in search of a problem while creating a host of new problems for
already struggling families in our communities. In testimony offered
before the Assembly Committee on Labor and Workforce Development
proponents of this bill could offer no evidence that these types of
complaints and lawsuits are widespread.
The reality is that the introduction of WI
Circuit Court Access Program (CCAP) has already led to large numbers
of men and women with convictions never getting past the application
process. Employers receive an application and can immediately look the
individual up on CCAP and throw the application away… what about the
men and women who have employment, who have been working for years and
are now suddenly at risk because of an unpardoned conviction?.. At
what point do we stop punishing them? At
what point do we stop punishing their families? …. Children are the
collateral damage of our criminal justice system and this bill, if
passed, will mean more of those kids continue in poverty due to
parental unemployment….. You have heard
testimony from groups who support this bill. They are trade groups,
they are large associations like WMC with a vested interest in
overturning legislation that holds them accountable for
discrimination. According to the WI State Journal, Walmart supports
this bill… in 2005 a contractor in Beaver Dam hired work release
inmates to assist in building the Walmart warehouse and Walmart took
no position on the use of cheaper inmate labor to build one of their
facilities… A number of years ago Walmart was successfully sued for
discrimination based on conviction record, as a result they have hired
people with felony convictions.
If SB 207 passes Walmart can fire all of
the individuals they hired since the lawsuit while continuing to
benefit from cheap inmate labor through work release centers.
Supporters of this bill in the Assembly have argued that it will not
prohibit an employer from hiring someone. True, but I think it is
disingenuous to argue that there will not be disparities in how these
decisions are made and who will most likely be able to find employment
despite a conviction record. On a weekly basis we see men and women
who cannot get a foot in the door for an interview despite having the
qualifications listed in the employment ads. .. Compare
that to the experiences of the Representatives and Senators convicted
of crimes in the legislative caucus scandal. Steve Foti is now a
lobbyist with the WI Retail Council… Brian Burke is a defense attorney
and Chuck Chvala also regained his law license. All of these
individuals have rebuilt their lives… but let's not pretend that the
experiences of these powerful, empowered, politically connected men
and women are representative of the over 70,000 men and women
currently in our criminal justice system.
According to a 2005 article by the WI
Lawyer, from 1979 to 2005 only 604 pardons were granted… there are
over 70,000 men and women on supervision or in prison in WI. In 26
years 604 pardons, 23 per year on average. The pardon process is long,
… in the meantime, how many jobs will be denied and how many people
currently employed will be terminated from employment?...
…. Many of the world's faith traditions,
including Christianity and Judaism, call on us to care for one another
and to forgive. This bill is unforgiving by decreasing the likelihood
that someone can indeed put the prison bars behind them and rebuild
their life… this bill denies forgiveness and the opportunity for
redemption…
SB 207 will disproportionately affect
African Americans due to the racial disparities that currently exist
in our criminal justice system. SB 207 will decrease public safety by
denying individuals the opportunity to find employment…. SB 207will
harm children and families, and it will likely increase recidivism in
our state … SB 207 is bad corrections policy."
This legislation has been passed out of the Assembly and Senate
committees but has not yet been scheduled for a vote in either
chamber. We are working hard to prevent these bills from ever coming
up for a vote. You can help by contacting your legislators and letting
them know that you oppose SB 207.
For more information contact Linda Ketcham
at MUM, 256-0906
[ Voices Home ] [ Voices News ] [ Features/Columns ] [ Our Viewpoints ] [ Healthy Living ] [ Comm-Unity Photos ] [ Current VOICES Pages & Archive ] [ Reflections On Dr. Martin Luther King ]
[ Top ]
Extended Web Coverage & Links to More Resources:
[Alcohol Awareness]
[Brain
Matters]
[Career
Exploration] [APA
History]
[Math Matters]
[Women's History] [African American Heritage]
[Homage to
Coretta Scott King]
[The Children's March]
[School Matters] [Celebrate Dr. Martin
Luther King]
 When
I got the last minute call from Milele Chikasa Anana asking me to go
with her to the official dedication ceremony of the Martin Luther
King, Jr. National Memorial in Washington, D.C., I knew I had to go. I
knew that it would be a chance of a lifetime to experience something
so historic and something that would change the political and social
landscape of D.C. forever. After arriving
at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport on Friday, Aug. 26, we found
out that the majority of the events surrounding the unveiling of the
memorial were cancelled due to the impending Hurricane Irene that was
forecasted to ravage parts of the East Coast. Still we decided that
since we came this far, we might as well keep going.
We wasted no time after checking in to our hotel, sparing just 10
minutes to set our bags down and check in with relatives back home
before we set out to get a first glimpse of the memorial.
 Located
on 1964 Independence Ave. SW, the 30-foot monument of King overlooks
the beautiful blue waters of the Tidal Basin. Encompassing a total of
four acres, the memorial is also surrounded by a crescent-shaped
inscription wall that includes many quotes from King. The memorial of
King also utilizes the natural elements of trees, stone and water to
further convey King’s universal message of “hope, democracy, justice
and love.” When we approached the
memorial’s entrance, I heard Milele say to herself “Oh my goodness,”
as she reached for something to steady herself with. I imagined she
never thought she would get to see something like this in her
lifetime, just as I imagine she never thought she would live to see a
black man become president. As a 20-something year old who boarded a
bus full of strangers back in 1963 to attend the March on Washington
and see King deliver his “I Have a Dream Speech,” I imagined that she
had come full circle to now see the same man memorialized.
After all, the monument is historically placed between the Lincoln and
Jefferson Memorials and stands as the first monument on the National
Mall that honors a non-President, non-white, anti-war leader.
Carrying out my reporter duties, I interviewed a diverse and
multigenerational crowd. I talked with a daughter, mother and
grandmother, a 4-year-old boy, and several individuals who remember
marching with King in 1963. Listening to the hopes and dreams of the
younger generation was an exciting experience for me, but hearing the
stories of civil rights heroes who braved dog bites and fire hoses all
in the name of freedom and justice was very inspirational. It is
because of them that the 4-year-old boy I interviewed can even dream
of becoming a dolphin trainer or a scientist.
The next day, we were guests at the
National Interfaith Prayer Service which was newly designated as the
last official event for the celebration due to the weather. The prayer
service was held at the National Basilica of the National Shrine of
the Immaculate Conception which contains over 70 chapels and is one of
the largest Catholic Churches in the U.S.
I was awestruck as we sat a few pews behind Kings relatives, civil
rights and civic leaders and honorable dignitaries. Among those who
spoke were Ambassador Andrew Young, King’s daughter Elder Bernice King
and Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery. Young, who
served as a close friend and confidante to King during the Civil
Rights Movement, recalled a successive occurrence of turbulent events
for King. Young likened King’s struggles to a “Mountain of Despair,”
but called on audience members to continue to be inspired by his work
and legacy and to turn ourselves into “stones of hopes in the midst of
this global despair.” Elder Bernice King
poignantly recalled how often times people ask her what it feels like
to be King’s daughter. “The truth is, I came to know King more than I
knew ‘dad,’” she said. It was during her quest as a teenager to “find”
her father in the man the whole world knew, that she was first called
to the ministry. “I found my daddy in a
man who was an honorable servant of God,” she said.
Just as the prayer service was coming to a close, the first drops of
Hurricane Irene began. Instead of fearfulness I was overcome by
feelings of joy and gratitude as I remembered Rev. Dr. Lowery’s witty
yet profoundly true closing remark as I thought about the sacrifices
that generations before me made so that I could witness an occasion as
momentous as this:
“[With] all of the things Black folk have been through…no little
hurricane can stop us.” |
